The Time Turner
by mcplestreet
Summary: After finding an abandoned time turner in the Room of Requirement the marauders decide that it's time for a bit of mischief. But they may end up in a bit of a sticky situation. TimeTravel!AU with some Sirius/OC, but not the main focus of the story.


**Ouran High School Host Club- Challenge and Competition** by **msProbie**

Haruhi Fujioka- Write about someone who is mistaken for the wrong gender.

 **The AU Packet Prompt Challenge** by **The Dreaming Hare**

TimeTravel!AU

 **Ultimate Writer Challenge** by **CrimsonWonder**

Write 3 AU's of your choice

Hope you enjoy this one shot :)

* * *

"This _is_ illegal, you know." Peter pointed out to the three other boys. "I don't think a bit of mischief is worth getting _arrested_."

"Then we'll make sure no one ever finds out." Sirius replied, eager to get started with their plan.

"Maybe he's right." Remus said, "This could be really dangerous."

"Or really cool."

The four Marauders stared down at the object in front of them as they all squeezed onto Sirius' bed. It was him that had found this treasure in what the called the Disappearing Room. They tried not to make a habit out of taking things from that room after a particularly bad experience with a charmed tea cup. But Sirius had heard of these before and couldn't help himself.

It had been hiding inside a vase that looked decades old, cracked and faded with time. The vase looked like something his mother would have got, so he had considered smashing it since he'd never gotten the chance to break any of her collection. When he picked it up he heard something move inside it and peeked in. He'd thought they were a myth, or that none existed anymore. He always assumed that if there were any they would be carefully guarded by the Ministry, not laying around at Hogwarts.

Remus picked the time turner up, holding it by the chain so he wouldn't accidentally turn it. "I heard some of them transport you to a different location too." He said, inspecting it carefully.

"I bloody hope this one does, or else we'll still be at school." James said, leaning in to get a better look at the object.

The boys had decided that since they didn't know how much time each turn would take them back that they should just roll a dice an turn it however many times the dice told them. Peter glanced at the dice on the nightstand, both with the side with 6 dots on top. Each turn could take them back a day, a week, or even a month. Though Sirius and James, the more daring of their friends, were hoping it would be at least years.

"Let's get to it then."

The boy put their heads together and put the chain around all of their necks. Before anyone could protest any further Sirius took the turner in his hands and spun it eight times. All around them the room blurred, almost as if they were flying on a broom going faster than any of them had ever traveled before. They all quickly learned that trying to focus in on the space around them would make them feel queasy so they all kept their heads down.

After only a matter of seconds the room around them stopped spinning and they could all finally look up. They had previously decided that Remus should hold onto the time turner, being the only one in the group who was somewhat responsible. While he wrapped it up in a cloth and tucked it inside his pocket the others got the first glimpse of where they had ended up.

They were in a room that couldn't have been much bigger than their dorm back at school, with an uneven and dusty wooden floor. The ceiling was dangerously close to the tops of their heads, and they would probably have to bend down to use what was probably the front door. There were unlit and half melted candles inside holders attacked to the walls which seemed to be the only source of light for when night fell. Other than a fireplace, a bed, and a table with a chair there wasn't much furniture inside the room. They'd only been there for a minute or so when the heat became too much and they had to shed the layers they'd put on to combat the cold they'd left back in time.

"It's a bloody sauna in here." James said, heading for the front door. "I need some air."

The other three agreed and followed him out of the small house. When they stepped outside they were surrounded by lush green grass and rolling hills in the distance. Leaning against the house, which was small and painfully bland, was a stack of roughly chopped up wood. There were only a few other houses in sight, which looked strikingly similar to the one they'd just exited, but they were almost 10 meters away. One thing they all noticed, and no one chose to comment on, was how eerily silent it was.

"I think we went a bit too far back." Remus said, voting the thought that was on all of their minds.

"Hope we didn't go far enough to have to worry about the plague." James commented. It was a very un-James like half assed attempt at humor.

Sirius heard wind whip past his head, seemingly from out of nowhere. He looked behind him, his eyes going wide when he laid eyes on Peter. He, who stood closest to the house, was now pinned against the wall with an arrow sticking out of his shirt. For a moment of panic he wondered if he was hurt. Thankfully the shirt Peter wore was baggy enough and he was left unharmed. Remus rushed to pull the arrow out of his shirt so his friend would no longer be pinned.

They looked around for the source of the arrow, but it appeared as if no one was in sight. Sirius recalled how Remus wondered if their trip could be dangerous, but he was sure that this wasn't what he meant. It was clear that where they were was long before where they'd come from, and they no doubt stuck out like a sore thumb. But could that really make them a target?

It was James who first spotted who shot the arrow. About 3 meters away someone, it was hard to tell gender from that far away, stood peeking out from a tree. Their face was hidden by the plain brown cloak they wore. When James pointed them out they quickly hid behind the tree. Sirius wondered if they would run, but that possibility was quickly proved wrong when they stepped into view, still hidden under their cloak.

They started walking towards the group of friends, preparing another bow as they came closer. Sirius considered reaching for his wand but stopped himself. He remembered how heavily persecuted wizards were in the old days, and showing any signs of magic could make them even more of a target to this person. But if they needed to defend themselves magic was their only option. They just had to wait it out.

Once they stood only a yard away they had their arrow ready to shoot, but kept it pointed at the ground. James, foolishly brave, was the first one to speak. "We don't want any trouble." He said, holding his hands up.

"No, you're just sneaking around on my property dressed like fools." They said sarcastically. From this far away Sirius could make out a few of their features, including dark brown eyes and an annoyed expression. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you all right now."

"We were just on our way." Remus said, "We got a little lost but we were just about to leave."

"Lies." They hissed at them, raising the arrow higher in the air.

"Well if you're gonna shoot us don't hide under that hood like a coward." Sirius hollered. He was irritated that what could have been perfectly good mischief had gone so sourly. "Be a man and show your face."

The arrow lowered until it was pointed directly at the ground. "Be a _man_?" They asked, annoyance clear in their voice.

A hand stuck out from under their cloak and pulled back the large hood. Instead of seeing what Sirius assumed would have been a young boy, maybe around 14 years old, they were greeted by the face of a much older girl. Her dark was pulled back and behind her shoulders, hence why they hadn't seen it before. She was petite, yet she somehow managed to be intimidating. With her bow and dangerously sharp arrows in hand and icy gray eyes Sirius couldn't help but think that she really would have shot all them.

"Was that supposed to be some sort of joke?" She asked, her voice sounding more feminine now that he knew it belonged to a girl. "If I were you I wouldn't be making jokes right now. You're trespassing on _my_ property and I have more than just these arrows I could kill you with."

Her fierceness would have been attractive if he didn't think she didn't meant her threat so whole heartedly.

"No, not a joke." He said quickly, "I just… couldn't tell."

The girls cold eyes scanned over them and a look of confusion fell over her features. It was hard to tell how old she was. She couldn't have been much older than them, but she had a round face that made her look younger than she might have been. "Where are you four from?" She asked, her eyes fixed on their clothes. "You're certainly not from here."

Sirius quickly considered coming up with a lie, but they'd already spoken with their real accents and she didn't seem stupid enough to fall for a fake one. Before he could think of a lie she _would_ fall for James blurted out the truth.

"We came from the future." He said, seeming to have spoken before thinking.

Her eyes narrowed at him. "The _future_?" She asked, "I thought I made it clear that your best bet isn't to be making jokes right now."

"He's telling the truth." Remus said ad he pulled the time turner out of his pocket. "This took us back in time, we just didn't know how far back it would take us. And we didn't know we'd end up in your house."

The girl walked towards him and grabbed the time turner by the chain. She held it up to her face, watching it dangle in the air carefully. "Time travel?" She asked, holding it for a few more seconds before handing it back to Remus. "Are you some sort of witches."

"Well the guys are called 'wizards' but pretty much." Remus told her as he put the time turner safely back in his pocket.

She nodded a few times, slowly. "I don't know about where you're from but they kill witches here." She told them. After a moments hesitation she told them, "Get back inside, if anyone sees you you'll be in trouble."

The Marauders went back into the plain and stuffy house followed by the girl that no longer seemed like a threat to them. She shut the door behind her and tossed her cloak onto the back of the chair. Underneath she had on a white blouse and pants that didn't quite fit her, as if they'd been borrowed from someone else. Sirius remembered how the social rules were much more strict back in the times when they killed witches, and those rules probably included what women wore.

"What's your name?" Peter asked her

She hesitated again, "Katherine." She finally answered, peeking out of the one window in her small house. "Where are you from, exactly."

"England, 1977." Remus said. Being the tallest of the group he was the most uncomfortable with the height of the house. It was clearly meant for someone her height and not theirs.

Katherine repeated the year back to herself as if she didn't quite believe it. "Wow, that's really far." She said

"Where are we now?"

"You're still in England, but it's certainly not 1977." She said, pulling out the chair and taking a seat. "It's the 1450's here."

The boys glanced at one another nervously. Had they really gone back over 500 years in a matter of seconds? From where they'd come from this girl in front of them was long dead. Wasn't the plague around the 1400's? Would they be able to get infected if they were only there for a few hours? Sirius had the urge to keep the neck of his shirt over his nose, but that would definitely come off rude. Besides Katherine seemed healthy enough. Her color was good and she was well enough to have spot on aim with an arrow. Sirius hoped they would be able to tell if she was infected. He was no doctor but she looked fine.

"So what did you go back in time for?" She asked them curiously. Her demeanor was drastically different from when she had first approached them. Sirius wondered why if witches were being persecuted she was being so casual about their use of magic

"Just to try it." James said with a shrug, "To see what it was like."

Katherine raised a dark eyebrow at him. "And?" She asked, a hint of a smile on her lips. "What is it like?"

"Well considering we got shot at in the first few minutes it's going really well."

Her cheeks turned slightly pink. Sirius wondered if noticing how cute she looked was wrong. If she was hundreds of years older than him. But at the same time they were the same age. He decided not to think about it since it made his head spin. "Sorry about that." She said bashfully. "These days a single woman living alone has little to protect. My property is pretty much all I have. The last thing I need is someone to ruin that for me."

"You're pretty young to be living on your own." Sirius pointed out, "And weren't women your age these days married off by their parents really young."

She shook her head, "My parents got sick a few years ago and sent me off to live with a man they wanted me to marry so I didn't get sick as well." Katherine told them. "He was a brave man, but foolishly so. He went on hunting trips that were far too difficult for the little experience he had. He died."

"Oh," he said, "Sorry to hear that."

Katherine shrugged. "I never wanted to marry him." She said, "It sounds cruel but it saved me from an unhappy life." A small smile grew on her face. "But something tells me you're not just asking about my relationship status out of pure concern."

"He has a tendency to flirt with anything that moves." James said, giving Sirius a light push.

She laughed quietly. "And I'm guessing your looks usually help you get away with that?"

"Are you calling me hot?"

Katherine shook her head, her smile growing even more. "No, but I can tell lots of girls from where your from do."

Remus shot Sirius a look, his eyebrows raised high. "Are you really flirting with her right now?" He asked in disbelief. Though Sirius was surprised that his friend expected anything else from him. "Can you ever think about anything else?"

"Yes, actually, I can." He replied. "I just choose not to."

She laughed again, standing up and crossing over to a small set of cabinets. "I was just about to make myself dinner when I got back. Would you boys like some?"

Sirius was the first to agree to staying for something to eat.

xXx

It was no Hogwarts feast, but it was clearly the best she could do so none of them commented on it. Once she didn't see them as a threat to her property she'd warmed up to them quickly. Before they knew it they were all making jokes and laughing together. Since dark had fallen and the only way to measure time was a sun dial outside it was hard to tell what time it was. But they could tell it was getting late. Though they all knew that the Marauders would have to be leaving soon none of them talked about it.

They asked Katherine a lot about her life and what things were like in 1453. She answered all of their questions then asked about their own lives. They'd all seen movies about time travel and what happened when people from the past learned too much about the future and were apprehensive about answering. She seemed to catch onto this quickly and eventually stopped asking them about the 70's.

Katherine was funny and quick witted, and got along with them surprisingly well considering she'd only just met them. Sirius was disappointed that he couldn't have met her at school as opposed to a completely different time period. He wouldn't mind cuddling up with her in a broom closet if he was given the opportunity. She told them that the people in her village looked down on her for being an independent young woman, and even more so for wearing her older brothers trousers on occasion instead of dresses. The one thing she demanded to know was if women were treated differently in the future.

When it was time for the boys to go she did her best to hide the fact that she was disappointed, but they could still tell. She hugged them all goodbye, and Sirius liked to think she hugged him a few seconds longer than the others. Remus took out the time turner and confirmed they had turned it 12 times before. As they gathered together and got ready to leave she spoke up again.

"Will you come visit me again?" She asked, a hint of hope showing on her face.

They had all agreed to use the turner only once and then put it back in the Disappearing Room so they wouldn't get in too much trouble. Dealing with one without permission was risky, and Remus was convinced that it was illegal. But how could they not even consider going back to see her? It seemed cruel to leave her with the knowledge of magic and never see her again.

"Yeah, we'll come back." Sirius told her before one of his friends could say otherwise.

She smiled, wider than she had the whole night. Any doubt he had about what he just agreed to disappeared at the sight of how happy it made her. "I'll be waiting."

After turning the small hourglass 12 times over they were taken back to Hogwarts and to their normal lives. Sirius wasn't sure he would be able to live up to the promise he made but he sure as hell intended to try.


End file.
